The Right Direction
by Swirlycloud
Summary: Kakashi and Obito are on a mission during the Third Great Shinobi War, not long before the Battle at Kannabi bridge. However, it doesn't go as planned. Follows the lives of Team Minato and leads right up to Kakashi Gaiden. Action, humor, fluff, and the like.
1. Kiite iru 聞 って いる Listening

**A/N**: This is the promised sequel to _Ore no taisetsu na hito _(short Kakashi/Minato student-teacher fic). Minor references may be used, however it's not necessary to read it first to understand. Enjoy!

—-

* * *

"Ah...the Hokage tower is where...again...?" Obito queried, slightly out of breath, as he looked from left to right. They were not even inside the village yet, but he liked to know things beforehand. Too bad his sense of direction failed him in every possible way.

"Taku...you don't even know that?" Kakashi mumbled wearily, giving Obito a pathetic glare.

"Shut up, will you," he muttered back defensively, "...teme."

"What did you say?"

"You heard me." He stuck out his lip and gave him a sideways glare back. He then took closer notice of him. Kakashi looked even more irritated than usual. Was it because he so pissed at that him that his cheeks were turning red? If this was the case, Obito thought, then he was definitely annoyed with him as well. When they were about a half-mile from the village gates, he looked behind him to see that Kakashi was now the one following, not leading. "Mou, hurry up already!" Obito earned himself another dirty look, but was spared any kind of response. His teammate had been rather quiet the entire way, he noticed—not once did he stop to lecture or or utter some kind of insult aimed at Obito's intelligence. Well, it was good that way.

The shade over the surrounding area was gracefully lifted as a giant cloud finished its course of passing the sun. For no reason in particular, the Uchiha looked up at the sun briefly. Unfortunately for him, it was midday, and his goggles were no replacement for sunglasses. "Ack!" He turned away, blinking like mad to rid himself of the momentary blindness. The silence that followed the next few seconds were unbearable. Hearing Kakashi scold him for every little thing had become second nature to him now, and his sudden passivity was driving him crazy. He stopped. "You..." he drifted off as he turned around to squint at the boy in question. His eyes widened.

Kakashi was nearly thirty feet behind him, stumbling forward rather drunkenly. His gaze was cast downward, and he seemed not to notice Obito rushing towards him, or the hand on his shoulder that followed after.

"Oi, Kakashi!" Obito frowned uneasily. "Are you—?" He lowered himself slightly, trying to look into the other's eyes. To his distress, Kakashi did not meet his teammate's dark, worried eyes. Instead, he did something far scarier...he closed them, and he began to lean forward until Obito re-secured him with a firm left-hand grip.

A single word flashed across Obito's mind.

_Poison._

Obito instinctively brought his other hand up to Kakashi's face, touching the left side of his cheek near the jaw where his infamous mask was ripped. He took his thumb and gently brushed the broken skin, examining the small cut. He was startled from his investigation when he felt a hand clutching his forearm. He looked down at the pale, dirty hand, and then back up at Kakashi's face. Dark, heavy-lidded eyes stared back at him with piercing force. Obito felt relieved to see the irritation clear on his face again. But it only lasted only a moment. His hand was abruptly removed from his comrade's masked face with strained effort, and once again he was met with a dwindling, spiritless Kakashi...a concept nothing less than foreign to him.

_Baka!_ Obito mentally slapped himself, opening and closing his palm as he stared at it. _My fingers are cut_. Why_ am I touching the poison. He's right. Obviously he doesn't want me to get sick, too... _The thought, however practical the reasoning behind it was, brought a strange comfort to him. A quick, simple conclusion was made. _He...cares? So h__e __really __doesn't hate me._

He erased all thoughts from his worry-wart mind and pulled Kakashi over his shoulder. "Taku." With the gates now in sight, he pulled on a look of solid determination and took off to the hospital—a place he knew quite well.

* * *

**A/N**: Updates will come faster for this one, given that I'm already working on the next chapter! Expect some fighting and action to follow.


	2. Tatakatte iru 鬪って いる Fighting

—-

Standing across from the hospital bed, leaned up against the wall, was Obito. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in a subconscious act of defense as he replayed their recent mission over in his mind.

With only a genin and a chuunin alone, Sandaime had sent the two on a relatively simple B-rank mission. However, war was still waging throughout the shinobi countries—this was the reason that they had received a B -rank mission in the first place—and once ninja left the outskirts of their village, danger was to be expected anywhere, at any moment. The two were only to observe and report activity toward the Eastern border of the Fire country. However, in the midst of their observation they were caught in an unprecedented battle between Grass and Sand ninja near the Grass country and Fire country borders. Surprisingly, there had been no Rock ninja present during the skirmish.

One of the Suna ninja, who mistook Obito and Kakashi as siding with the Grass ninja, was a powerful fuuton user. A Grass nin, who assumed the two Konoha brats sided with the Sand ninja, wielded poison senbon. Obito, who was initially frightened and taken off guard by the sudden fight, had used his Goukakyuu no Jutsu to defend himself and Kakashi against a spray of poison senbon—a shurikenjutsu he recognized as originating from the Hidden Rain village. He then turned to face the Grass ninja's partner. The powerful fireball had melted almost all of the sharp needles, but a few had escaped its searing wrath. Kakashi had not waited to see the results of Obito's attack and immediately turned to face the Sand ninja. However, as he turned, one of the sharp senbon nicked him along the cheek.

Just minutes into battling the Suna nin, Kakashi had faltered several times, nearly losing himself to the Sand when he realized that the needle must have been covered in poison. He had quickly pulled out from his pack a multi-purpose antidote, and Obito gave it to him, recovering a decent amount of his strength within thirty seconds or so. A few minutes afterward, the two were still horribly outnumbered. The Grass and the Sand had by then both realized that the Konoha ninja were allied with neither side, and quickly resolved to get rid of the "small brats" in the way. Although there were very few chances for escape, Kakashi had eventually created an opening by brilliantly tricking the two groups into attacking each other, severely confusing both for a good few seconds. It was more than enough time to slip by and make their escape.

_Hmm. _And that was it. The return home had went by without a hitch, to their supreme luck. Only when they were just a mile away from the gates of Konohagakure did Kakashi begin to appear off-balance. He furrowed his brow. This poison was obviously more complicated than your standard run-of-the-mill shinobi poison. The user had appeared to be of very experienced chuunin-level, if not jounin-level. Obito's eyes returned to Kakashi, whose breathing shallowed and head turned roughly to the side. He appeared to be dreaming.

—-

* * *

Ok, so far so good. Crouching behind the thick bush, Kakashi observed a few travellers strolling along the main path away from the Fire country's border. They looked like they could take care of themselves. That was good—because this was a very bad time to be traveling, especially toward the small countries in between the two nations that contained the great shinobi villages of Konohagakure and Sunagakure. His eyes left them as they disappeared from sight and he nodded toward Obito at his left, who was kneeling on the ground beside him. He nodded back at Kakashi, and proceeded to dip his brush into the inkpot secured in his free hand to record the day's events onto the scroll that lay flat out in front of him. A few hours had gone by well and it looked as if they could come back with a good report for this side of the border.

_Nani!? _Kakashi had to work on his ability to sense the enemy. He whipped around and immediately reached behind him for a kunai. Holding it out defensively with his left hand, he glanced around him in alarm. Grass ninja appeared to his left, and Sand ninja to his right. His gaze fell upon Obito and his face fell. A Suna nin had sneaked behind him and was about to strike. _Obito! _In a flash, Kakashi appeared at Obito's side, facing the enemy with an surge of killing intent. The Suna nin smirked at the offensive display as her kunai clashed against Kakashi's own—and she quickly gained the advantage in strength. In response to the disparity in physical power, lightning chakra shrieked through both kunai and electrocuted the Suna nin. She backed away in momentary shock and pain, but Kakashi did not miss the sly, confident glance she made toward her partner. Kakashi quickly deduced that her partner was a fuuton user. He was proven correct as he saw a few ninja blow away in a ferocious, slicing gust of wind. All but one of the Grass ninja had already begun fighting the other Sand ninja.

Noticing the lone Grass nin approaching the two young Leaf ninja, Obito sprang forward, grabbing several shuriken from his holster and throwing them at his target. The Grass nin quickly blocked the weapon attack with a hard, heavy umbrella-like tool and subsequently used that same tool to launch her own weapons attack. Kakashi tensed in alarm, his attention split between the approaching Suna nin he had engaged just seconds earlier, and watching the hundreds of needles fly high into the air aiming straight for him and Obito.

"I've got it!" Obito shouted at Kakashi.

Trusting the task to his comrade, Kakashi nodded and kept glancing around, taking in his environment repeatedly, checking for any new enemies aside from the ones that had already appeared. For the moment it seemed that there were no additional ninja hiding nearby. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the quick movement of seals and a great ball of fire was thrust into the air, its presence loud and dangerous. To him, however, it was a comforting sight. It was always mesmerizing to see that huge, hot fire flaming bright in front of his eyes, and the fact that it existed for his defense made him feel funny inside for a moment.

He had no more time to think about it as he returned his full attention back to the Suna nin, feeling something sharp graze his mask as he did so. He widened his eyes at the speed of the kunoichi, who had suddenly flashed in front of his face with a long katana coming down on him. Just barely blocking the blow, his kunai struggled against her heavier blade. Of course his tanto blade had to be in for repair at such a time... Quickly ducking out from underneath her sword's pressure, he appeared at her side and fatally stabbed her. To his dismay, a pile of sand accumulated in her place. _Suna bunshin... _

A thought crept into his mind while he watched the sand fall into place. That high feeling...it hadn't gone away yet. He still felt oddly funny, but it soon became very unpleasant. The few seconds of high had turned drastically low. Ignoring the strange sensations shuddering throughout his body, he turned to check on Obito, who was still dealing with the umbrella-wielding Grass nin. He watched in fuzzy horror as he saw two male enemy ninja—presumably the kunoichi's partners—show up next to her, pushing Obito further and further back away with their deadly kenjutsu, occasionally landing a shallow strike across his arms as he tried to move out of the way.

He started off to aid his outnumbered comrade but the Suna nin returned to permanently disable, or better, eliminate, the threat from Konoha. She snuck behind him, taking advantage of his distracted state. He noticed her presence right away, however, and ducked down to escape her katana, at the same time leaning his left hand on the ground and attempting to land a back-sweeping kick at her ankles to make her lose her footing. The nin jumped to avoid the kick but was dealt a hit square in the gut as Kakashi jumped back up. She fell back a few steps, and thrust out her katana in a wide motion toward him in response to the change in momentum as a last second counterattack. Kakashi stepped back immediately and angled his body away from the strike, but it wasn't enough. The katana swiped him across the right side of his torso. Blood colored the blade's edge and splattered on the grass.

_Ugh..._

Kakashi stumbled backward, clutching his side. _How__?_ His muscles were barely listening to his command._ I was sure I stepped back enough... _His frown deepened as he watched the kunoichi slowly recover from the blow and start to rise toward him. _Why...is my body...not listening to me...?_

His eyes flashed toward Obito, and he suddenly remembered. "No..." The needles in the air...that was what he felt hit him earlier. _Poison, _he thought grimly. They must have been poisoned...that's why he felt like he was going to pass out any second...or worse. He touched the gaping wound on his body, and stared at the hand stained a deep shade of red. The image began to fade; his already blurry vision was getting darker with each passing moment. He reached behind him for the the multi-purpose antidote packed by Rin. He quietly thanked her while shakily bringing it up to his skin, but to his horror, it fell out of his hand. Anything close to fine-motor control was lost. His eyes shifted blindly._ Dammit...!_ How was he supposed to save Obito? A simple mission gone bad...

_...How could I screw this up!?_

The Suna nin soon arrived by Kakashi's side only to see him struggling to keep himself upright. He failed, and fell onto his back. The kunoichi lazily hung her katana at Kakashi's throat and gazed into his lost eyes. "You're dead," she stated, mildly amused. He felt a sharp prick near his neck. "But I'll end it for you right here."

"Agh!"

_What..._ The sharp, pointy sensation was gone, but soon replaced with a different kind.

Obito quickly grabbed the antidote off the ground and administered it to his comrade, while hastily removing the bandages from his arm and wrapping them around Kakashi's waist. "Oi, Kakashi...wake up!" He clutched his partner desperately, angrily, tears forming in his eyes. "Come on...hurry up, let's go...! Don't sleep..."

_Aa...I know. It's about—time, ...no...?  
_

_—-_

* * *

**A/N**: Kawa no Kuni - Grass Country; Hi no Kuni - Fire Country. Kusa ninja = Grass ninja; Suna ninja= Sand ninja; Iwa ninja= Rock ninja

How was the action? I spent a lot of time on this chapter, in particular. Much of it was already written by the time I put up the first chapter. It kind of took days, in between classes and work. ^^' Hopefully it was easy to understand. I placed both of their accounts side by side to help fill in the gaps, 'cause neither of them are great storytellers at this point, really!

Thanks for reading! All reviews are highly appreciated! I'd really like to know what you think, what was interesting, what I could improve on, what you'd like to see, etc.

~ALSO! New chapter is up for_ The Burden of Knowledge_ (based on the events of chapter 618+). Go read it! :D


	3. Naifun 内紛 Discord

******A/N**: Well, I thought a slightly modified version of "Traverse Softly" would also go nicely along this chapter, but I'm too lazy to finish it. ^^' The original instrumental is still up from before, though.

Enjoy!

* * *

_—_-

A cough interrupted Obito from his thoughts. His opened his eyes to see a light scowl on his friend's face mostly blanketed face. He walked over to his side, and looked down at him sorrowfully.

_I didn't get rid of all the senbon,_ he thought, ashamed at himself. Self-contempt started to rise within him. _The antidote wasn't enough, and now look what happened..._ He heard another cough, and straightened up. Was his friend waking up? He leaned over the bedside, watching with keen interest as Kakashi frowned deeper while opening his eyes slowly.

"Kakashi!" Obito exclaimed, unable to hide his enthusiasm and relief.

Without moving his head, Kakashi slid his eyes over to the location of the loud sound. _Must be Obito. _After having that terrible nightmare, he felt extremely relieved to see him alive and well. He took in his surroundings closely, and a feeling of unease slowly consumed him. _No._ It hadn't been just a dream; he was in a hospital. "_This place...I hate it..._" He suddenly winced at this careless personal revelation._ Like Obito would care.  
_

His friend, on the other hand, did not seem to mind. "Eh, maa..." He gave a small, lopsided grin. "You need to get better, so just shut up and get back to sleep." A mischievous, yet reassuring look appeared upon his face.

Kakashi felt inclined to smile back. He blamed the uncharacteristic impulse on the painkillers. _Ugh... _Although they weren't doing too much to help with the pain. He coughed again, this time more roughly, earning a concerned look from his friend.

_Poison...poiso—_why_ did it have to be poison? _This feeling...this helpless feeling of lying down on a hospital bed, confined by his own lethargy...it was driving him mad. He began to resent Obito just for being able to stand there. How he wished to stand as well...

"I feel like shit," Kakashi said plainly, oblivious to whether or not his teammate cared. He sat up quickly, ignoring the sharp pain that accompanied the movement, and turned to his left, facing Obito. He began to slide off the bed when something tugged at his arm from the opposite side. He looked behind him. Oh. The IV drip. That was annoying. He started to unhook the IV when he felt a firm grip on his left forearm. He turned to the source of the unwelcome distraction.

"Oi...you're bored, I know that," Obito interjected, "but—"

"Hanase." He shook his arm free and undid the IV. He stood up shakily under the weight of the life-crushing headrush, and tried to step away from the bed, moving past Obito. His side tugged at him sharply, begging him lie back down. He was already feeling very unwell. Upon the first step his knees buckled and legs gave out.

Obito caught him easily, holding him close and staring at him bleakly. The warmness from his coal eyes disappeared. There was an intimidating air about him. "Now will you listen?"

"...Hai, hai," Kakashi replied breathlessly, avoiding Obito's intense gaze. He placed his hands on the boy's chest, removing himself from his grasp, and sat back down wearily, facing him. _Mattaku... _He scowled hopelessly, cupping one side of his face at an angle, staring off at the side wall of the cramped room.

_Not even one step..._

_This is so annoying. _

The dirt-covered Uchiha folded his arms and stared down at him. "The doctor said that the poison is not just affecting your muscles but your chakra, too. They removed most of it, but there are still trace amounts of it left. It will make doing any kind of physical task extremely difficult," he asserted, while studying Kakashi's face. It was the first time he'd seen it, he realized, as his eyes tried to memorize every detail of it. "_Especially _molding chakra—considering you don't have any...so don't try anything." He was momentarily glad that Kakashi had tried this little stunt, given that he had unknowingly exposed his face to him. He turned around and moved away from the bed, deciding to face the opposing wall before Kakashi noticed his staring. "Anyway, the doctor..." he trailed off, hearing Kakashi's breathing change. He whipped back around to see that he had fallen asleep.

He scowled, and flushed. "O-oi!" Doing such a thing while he was still talking. His lower lip stuck out. "Rude!" _Seriously, who sleeps while sitting up?_ He made a face. _Besides Sandaime._

"Taku," he muttered. "He wasn't even listening..." he gently pushed Kakashi back down onto the bed and covered him up with the thin blanket so he could sleep properly, while keenly noticing the lack of resistance. He dismissed the observation immediately. It couldn't be because of him. Kakashi was in a hospital, so naturally he would safe here. Obito leaned against the metal bed frame, and gazed down at Kakashi protectively. He secretly wished that he was the reason that Kakashi hadn't become apprehensive at his touch. He wondered when his friend would finally notice him.

_But he's so mean._

Lost in his own thoughts, Obito turned and exited the suddenly gloomy hospital room, not hearing the faint, sleep-ridden words being whispered to him as he left. "_...Gomen, Obito..._"

_I don't really hate you..._

___—_-

* * *

******A/N**: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your thoughts~!


	4. Gureru ぐれる Path

_—-_

After wandering the halls, Obito eventually found himself outside the hospital entrance. The sun was just beginning its slow afternoon descent. The burning heat felt soothing on his skin. He squinted his eyes for a second, and then noticed Rin and Minato-sensei heading toward the entrance. He had let them know where Kakashi was right after arriving at the hospital. After that, while waiting outside the room, he'd quickly finished writing the rest of his mission report that he'd been so rudely interrupted from by the enemy ninja, and subsequently left to turn it in (Of course he had found the Hokage tower; he forgot it was just two blocks from the hospital). The more accurate, detailed spoken report would have to wait until Kakashi was better.

"Obito!" Rin called. She herself had returned from a particularly difficult mission just the day before along with Kurenai, Ibiki and Chouza-sensei. Having a medic-nin around was an especially rare occurrence these days, and they were very carefully assigned to platoons. "Daijoubu ka?" she asked as she approached him, quickly looking him over.

"Aa," he assured, grinning nervously, trying to hide his badly scratched hands. _This is nothing compared to what I let happen to Kakashi._ He thought about the several cuts all over his arms, and then suddenly remembered the gash below his collarbone. His eyes widened at realizing it was exposed. Without thinking, his hand reached up to cover it before Rin took proper notice of the bloodstain under his shirt; however, he missed the slight frown that appeared on his jounin sensei's face.

The look of relief on her face changed at the lack of mention of their other teammate. "...Kakashi wa...?"

His face fell a bit. "That is...he is okay, but...it's hurts a lot."

"I see," she replied quietly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. She smiled softly at his concern. With that, she thanked him and left, heading inside to check on the ninja in question.

Left alone, Obito reluctantly looked toward his sensei. He could not read what was in the man's eyes. He turned away.

When he met his young student's eyes, Minato could not help but notice the shame all over his face. "Obito." A soft smile graced his lips when the boy turned back around at the mention of his name, but then turned serious. "Are you really okay?"

The boy kicked a small rock in front of him. It rolled for several feet and stopped abruptly, hitting the root of a large tree up ahead. "...No," he admitted. He moved the large goggles away from his eyes and settled them atop his messy black hair. "He's hurting...but...so am I," he said softly, his physical wounds not even crossing his mind. It was very difficult for him to say.

Minato hummed in understanding. "...Whatever happened—you're not to blame, Obito." He stepped forward. "What's important is that Kakashi is alive, and he will be just fine. Missions screw up all the time. Furthermore, we're in the middle of war. Expect things to go bad."

"_Shikashi_—" he emphasized, "This is also why you need to be prepared at all times. If it wasn't for the emergency antidote Rin had packed for you two, Kakashi would have died right then." Minato did nothing to soften his words. He watched a tear trickle down the boy's cheek and felt his own heart twist. "Yet it was still not enough, and that's why we are here. It is extremely important to pack everything—weapons, scrolls, medical kits. They exist for very good reasons. You _cannot_ leaving the village without them." He relaxed his stance once he received a response, and remembered one of the important lectures he'd once given to Kakashi a few years ago.

"Hai," the boy replied solemnly. He noticed Rin exit the hospital doors and perform a gentle wave to him and Minato. He raised his hand in return and watched her leave in the direction of the Yamanaka flower shop. Obito's mind wandered back to Kakashi and his face grew wistful. Being rude nor pleasant seemed to make Kakashi like him. What would he have to do, then? Not being liked...especially by his own teammate...was painfully upsetting to him. Even his own family looked down on him. He was slow to learn the Gokakyuu no jutsu, and most of the shinobi in his family had already unlocked their Sharingan by his age.

"I'm sure Kakashi appreciates it."

Obito's head jerked up. What?

Minato's lip twitched. "Even though he may not show it, he doesn't hate you. Now go back in there and get treated, yourself."

The boy become agitated at him for noticing his wound. "Demo..."

Minato leaned down for a moment. "Kakashi hates hospitals, desho?" he whispered to the boy's ear as he walked by him to leave.

The boy widened his eyes, slowly realizing what his sensei was implying. A warm grin spread across his face. He leaped toward Minato as he was leaving and held him from behind, causing the jounin to stop in surprise and turn his head to look down at the happy boy. The Yellow Flash smiled warmly at the hug. _There is something inside of him, that understands._ He patted Obito's messy, wild hair and resumed his departure from the hospital grounds.

_Obito...he is in the right direction._

_—-_

* * *

**A/N**: Oh, the irony. It burns a hole in my heart. :'(

Please leave a review! All feedback is very much welcomed.


	5. Kappatsuhacchi! Soretemo—?

**A/N**: Pretty much Chapter 3 and 4's polar opposite. Next update will also be a single-chapter update.

Enjoy~! :3

—-

* * *

The next day was peaceful, and the two boys made up and promised never to fight again.

"_Ano baka!_"

Or not.

Kakashi glared next to him, where a certain Uchiha was lying on the adjacent hospital bed. "You didn't even put the IV back in!" He shut his eyes tight at the exertion.

Obito squinted at his left, not bothering to lift his head off the pillow. Aah...he was so tired... "...Nani...?"

"I said...you didn't put the IV back in...!" He choked. Hours without it! He felt completely miserable. "Baka."

"Ahou! Why would I...put that thing back inside of you...?"

A muffled smirk aroused the attention of the two boys.

…

The muffled smirk could not contain itself, and erupted into loud, good-humored laughter. "Bahahaha!"

A large man with long, silver hair tied into a low ponytail had found his way to the room. He leaned against the doorframe casually. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "You children...even lying on a hospital bed, so close to death..._yet so full of life_—"

"Oi! Don't group me with him. _He's _the one who almost died!"

A lecherous grin consumed his face. He thrust out his hands and wiggled his fingers playfully. "—I will be sure to tell your friend Gai about this youthful encounter between you two."

Kakashi was blushing furiously. "What the hell, Jiraiya-sensei!" he coughed.

Obito had a disgusted look on his face. "Yeah! Who could ever like this guy?" he said, jerking a thumb toward his teammate. Kakashi shot a dirty look back at him. He yawned.

"I doubt these two boys would do that sort of thing at a hospital, Jiraiya-sama—"

"—_We wouldn't do that at all!_" they chorused, glaring at the door.

The man turned behind him to see a woman of medium stature standing with her hand on her hip. Her long coat shifted as she entered the room. She also had a sizable bust, and dark brown hair tied in a high, tight bun. "How are you feeling? Kakashi-kun, Obito-kun," she said, pulling on a smile.

Jiraiya visibly winced at the change in her demeanor. So she was going to be nice to _them_?

"Ah! Saki-san," Kakashi's heavy eyelids opened wider. "Hello—"

"Ohayou...Saki..." Obito's voice dwindled away, and he appeared to have fallen asleep.

Kakashi stared at him. "..."

"I came to check on you—I heard from Minato-san that you two were in the hospital. Are you...really okay?" she asked, eyeing Obito worriedly.

Kakashi followed her gaze. "He's fine, just doped up on drugs," he muttered.

"And you're not?"

Kakashi nearly jumped. He faced Obito. "I-I thought you were asleep!" He coughed.

Obito cracked an eye open at him. His voice was low. "Stop talking, you're going hoarse."

"Well I wouldn't be if you hadn't left me to die here!"

Something swirled inside of Obito, locking away his words. It made him sick. Instead, he let his anger overcome the feeling, and talking became much easier again. "Dammit, you're the one who pulled it out in the first place!" He scowled.

"That's because...I was bored!"

"...I know that!"

Both boys were panting heavily.

Sweat dropped from behind Saki's and Jiraiya's heads.

"Quite energetic, aren't they?"

"No wonder Minato-san always has his hands so full," she remarked, staring at the two young ninja. She smiled inside. "Ah, Kakashi-kun..."

His head turned towards her tiredly.

"I also came to let you know that your Hakko Chakra To has been repaired! I am very sorry for the delay. I had wished for it to be done by the time you left for your mission early yesterday morning..."

Kakashi shook his head lightly. He raised his eyebrows, looking at her earnestly. "No, it's not—it's okay. Whenever it's done, it's okay."

Obito noticed something about her. "Saki-san...are you okay?" She was unusually pale today.

Her expression turned to that of surprise. "Er, yes...why do you ask?" she questioned, dryly noticing that it was not her who was confined to the bed.

"You look sort of pale. Have you been sleeping well?" He looked up at her worriedly.

Saki chuckled at the boy's concern, letting her eyes crinkle into slits. He'd always been so perceptive in this way. Might as well tell him now. "Yes, Obito, I have. I just found out yesterday that I'm pregnant, so—"

"Ooooouuuuhhh!" Jiraiya exclaimed in approval. "Congratulations, bijin-san!" He rested a large, tanned hand on her shoulder, grinning big.

Obito's weary face lit up. He and Kakashi both spoke at the same time. "Aahhh! Congratulations!" They glared at each other.

Saki smiled at the two. "Arigatou, minna!" She wondered if she would have a boy or a girl, or both, for that matter. The little Uchiha boy seemed to read her mind.

"Saa, saa!" Obito said brightly. He sat up, dizzying himself in the process. "Is it a girl or a boy? Or both? Are you going to have twins?!" He placed a hand painfully near his collarbone, shutting his eyes tight.

She laughed. "I don't know yet! But Araide has been thinking up some names. Hiruzen for a boy, after Sandaime-sama, or for a girl, Tsunade, after Tsunade-sama."

"Ii," Jiraiya said in liking. "A fine choice of a name, Hiruzen." He laughed loudly and put a hand behind his head. "Not so sure about Tsunade, though!" _She probably can't even understand the honor of that, though, aitsu..._

"I haven't thought of a name for a boy yet," she said slowly, gently curling her hand near her chin, "but if it's a girl, I like the name...Tenten."

"I like Tenten!" Obito exclaimed happily. "It sounds cute!" He turned toward Kakashi. "Don't you think—?" He stopped short. A scowl consumed his face once again. "_OI!_ Quit falling asleep while people are talking, do'ahou!" he reprimanded, throwing a dirty sock at him.

It landed square on Kakashi's face.

"..."

"Of course now you have perfect aim!" Kakashi growled and sat up, abruptly awoken from his untimely slumber. He picked it up from where it fell onto his lap and threw it back at him, clutching the sheets in pain after he did so. His muscles raged and the healing skin on his torso stung, slapping him across the face for the movement.

"A sock?" Jiraiya questioned blankly, knitting his eyebrows sadly while keeping a straight face.

"Aa," Obito grumbled. "I was cold, so I put them on..." He pointed his hand accusingly at the adult. "It's not like we have to only wear sandals all the time, you know!"

Jiraiya stepped his foot forward, bending his knee at a forty-five degree angle. "Oi, gaki!" He shoved his hand into thumbs-down position. "D'you have a problem with the Great Toad Sage's style?"

"Aa! I do! Perverted old man!" He returned the thumbs-down energetically.

"Nanda to?!" His face twisted in aggression. "I may be a pervert, but I am no old man,_ teme no gaki!_"

Kakashi's eyes closed. He pursed his lips comically. _He admits it..._

Sparks of blue mental energy flew across the room between the two.

Saki cleared her throat. She spoke cheerily, but everyone could hear the icicles that hung from her smooth, ribbon-like voice. "Alright! Jiraiya-sama and I will be leaving now! Please feel better soon!" With that, she left, dragging Jiraiya away with her.

His booming voice echoed, fading from the hallway. Bits of his conversation faintly made their way to the boys' ears. "But-but that kid—my style—yes—mission briefing—hai, Saki-chan—weapons—suman, suman~!"

...

Obito shivered and pulled the blanket over his head.

"Cold?" Kakashi questioned. "It's hot in here." He shoved away his sweaty, silver locks away from his eyes, and sighed. He slid his eyes over toward Obito. "Ne..."

"Nanda?" the grumpy voice replied.

He scowled. "Nevermind!"

Obito's expression changed from underneath the blanket. His muffled voice lowered in pitch. "...Nan desu ka, Hatake Kakashi-sama?"

Kakashi's glare went unseen. "I said nevermind! Kuso!" He pouted, and crossed his arms, facing the opposing wall.

"Hai, Hatake Kakashi-sama."

"Don't call me that."

"Haiii, Kashi-chan~..." The voice dwindled again.

"Or that!"

A minute of peaceful silence passed by. Kakashi sighed. Just as his eyes began to close, the sound of snoring filled the room. Kakashi abruptly grabbed his pillow and covered it over his ears in frustration. He groaned.

"Kuso, kuso, kuso!"

—-

* * *

**A/N**: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! :D Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! If you have any comments or feedback, please leave it in a review below! I really, really, appreciate your input~!

Also, Saki is not really an OC—I just gave a name to her existence as Tenten's mother and one of Konoha's top weapons experts. She also creates and sells her own weapons, as well as offering repairs when she's off duty. Anyway, I didn't want her to appear too out of the blue, so I made sure to mention Kakashi's inherited tanto blade being in for repair in the second chapter.

Chapter title is "Liveliness! Vitality! ...Or_—_?"

* * *

Quick language references:

Araide – Tenten's father

Bijin- beauty/ beautiful woman

Hakko Chakra To – Sakumo's white chakra blade

Ahou – fool

Do'ahou – stupid fool/ damn fool

Suman - sorry


	6. Shouyou 逍遙 Wandering

**A/N**: As you may soon see, I like to deal a fair amount of irony between the reader and the characters. I enjoy complicating things, and after a recent large break in writing, as I write this out, I am noticing more and more how much of an art this is...writing. Storytelling really is an art, and with each sentence I weave into this story, I am learning more and more, especially on establishing my own writing style. Ah, too bad this story is only fan-fiction! I rather enjoy filling in the blanks with this series, giving readers probable/believable additional background into the Naruto manga that we are not explicitly given by Kishimoto Masashi. Well, I try :)

* * *

—-

That boy...did he ever do any sort of introspection? Always so carefree... Obito had parents, a large family, and was likable among their former classmates. He was an _Uchiha_, and bound to be a powerful ninja in the future.

Did he ever think about anyone else's feelings? He always mouths off without assessing the situation. Demo...

_Is that really true?_

A counter-thought made its way into Kakashi's mind. Oh, great. He couldn't even think without Obito intruding in his mind. When had he let him become his voice of reason? He rubbed his eyes, and yawned. He had spent the latter half of yesterday and most of today lying in this wretched bed. He wanted to get up and move around so, so, bad. He started to sit up again, but then thought about what he tried to do the day before as a result of his boredom. Obito would not be happy.

Who cares if Obito wouldn't be happy? Why should anyone care about what he does to himself? Pfft. Kakashi just didn't understand him. Even so, his voice of reason chimed in again, and he decided to at least let Obito know where he was. Still lying down, he eyed the small notepad and pencil on the table beside him, to his left. He reached out a hand slowly and brought them towards him. They settled on his lap softly.

He adjusted the pillow behind his neck to angle his vision better, and placed the notepad loosely against his left hand. Ok...

_Wandering the halls. Go back to sleep, stupid._

That should do it. He picked up the long pencil with his other hand and lifted it shakily to the tiny, lined sheet.

…

_Dame da! _The pencil had fallen from his grasp. He stared at his open, shaking hand. It seemed to stare back at him with a 'What, you can barely move your legs, yet you think you can move me with such refined skill to attempt to _write_? I don't think so!'

Kuso.

The pencil rolled off the sheets and hit the floor with a tiny "clunk". He thought about getting up. Wouldn't he have to undo the IV again? What if he forgot to put it back in when he returned? That, he knew, had already slowed down his recovery. Ok...he should take it around with him, then. No...that would make too much noise. Ok. He would just have to remember when he came back. Yes.

—-

* * *

The brown-haired ninja wiped the sweat from her brow. "Genma, you really ought to take better care of yourself," she remarked, looking over the large wound on his lower leg.

"...Well, you know," he replied nonchalantly. Her looked into her medium brown eyes for a moment before shifting his gaze to the senbon that lay on the table beside the hospital bed. He eyed it longingly.

Rin noticed this, of course. "There's no need for that right now." She picked it up and put it on the back table, far out of reach. "You'll just end up hurting yourself, the way you're shaking." She returned to his side, and performed a quick handseal. Her hands flared to life with green chakra, and she placed them over the wound. "Why do you always have that in your mouth, anyway?" she questioned.

He shrugged at her, and then winced. His shoulder was still burned.

"That burn is a bit difficult for me to heal, alone," Rin said, finishing with his leg. "I'm going to have someone help me. I'll be right back, ok?"

"Will that someone let me have my senbon back?" he called out as she left the room.

"Nope!" she replied cheerily, not looking back. Eh, that Genma.

_Ok..._ After walking a bit further, she found the board on the wall near the medical supplies room. She looked at the list of the few available staff who were on duty, and skimmed her eyes over the handwritten names of the burn-unit:

Takaya Shiho, Senju Kosuke, Tsubaki Akane.

_Hmm...I know Kosuke-kun and Shiho-chan are dealing with a couple of ninja right now on the fourth floor. I guess that means I'll ask Tsubaki-san. Although I've seen her around, I haven't actually met her yet. _Sweat dropped from behind her head. _But she looks so intimidating though! _She recalled the flashes of short, orange-brown hair she'd caught glimpses of every now and then, and her stoic, hardened expression_...As if she doesn't want to be bothered..._

"Oh, well." She had no choice. Genma-kun's burns were pretty bad, and she needed help. Ah...but where would she find Tsubaki-san? She hadn't seen her around at all, today, actually. She wondered if the list on the board was from yesterday. The sign-in sheet was always lacking a date at the top of the paper. Rin hadn't been in yesterday, so she would have to remind the medic-ninja on the early-morning shifts again to date the page each day.

Sighing, she continued down the hall to proceed to look for the ever-elusive Tsubaki-san. If it turned out that she wasn't actually in today, she'd just have to wait until either Shiho or Kosuke were done.

* * *

—-

_Phew. Enough studying that textbook on poison now...how time-consuming. I already figured out how to make this particular antidote_, the girl thought, _but that chapter on combining flower and snake poisons was so interesting! _The burn-unit member continued down the hall, textbook in hand beside her left leg, and tiny container of orange medicine in the other, up in front of her chest. She brought the container up to her eyes to confirm the number of the room of where she was headed. Then her eyes looked up ahead and focused on the "T" in front of her, knowing she would be making a left at the end of the hall. _206. _She turned the corner and froze.

The medicine cup fell out of her hand and the textbook followed, both kind of being thrust up into the air in a manner of extreme surprise...perhaps even fear.

"What the hell!" she half growled, half squeaked.

A boy her age was before her, half standing and half leaning against the wall. He looked at her quizzically. The quizzical look quickly turned to what the girl would later call annoyance. "...What's wrong with _you_?" he asked, giving her a pitiful look.

"What's wrong with _you_?!" she returned, not appreciating his tone. "Showing up like that out of nowhere! What are you doing, anyway?" Her eyes fell to what he held quite loosely in his hands. An extra-thick blanket. She looked back at him again. _His expression...'so annoying'...is what he's thinking...  
I'll show you annoying. _

"Can't you see? I'm bringing somebody a blanket," he replied, coughing at the end.

She raised a thick eyebrow curiously at his disheveled appearance. His hair was long and messy and a dull gray color, and he had recently-formed dark circles under his deep-set eyes. "I should be bringing _you_ a blanket." Frowning childishly, she snatched it out from his hands roughly. Underestimating the force he had held his precious blanket with, she found herself catching the heavy ninja as he followed the direction of the force. "Oi!" she said with strained effort as she picked him off from her, and helped him stand upright, holding him steady with her left arm.

The boy was blushing furiously. At the realization that he was not wearing his mask, he blushed even harder. Why, oh _why_ was he blessed with a face that could be so, so easily read. Really. Look at her. Look how amused she is, smiling at him like that.

So. Irritating.

"You were bringing the blanket for somebody else?" she asked, now genuinely curious. She held the thick blanket in her free hand and looked back at him. "Let me deliver it. You probably shouldn't be walking anywhere right now."

"...Fine. Whatever." This girl... "Are you a kunoichi?" His age, about...?

"Yep!" She watched as his face turned sour. She gave him an equally condescending look. "...Nani?"

He looked to the opposite side where he wasn't being half-held from. His voice lowered, nearly inaudible...but the disdain could be heard from a mile away. "Shinobi shouldn't be so easily scared like that."

"…"

"_Nanda, kore!?_" She took her right hand and grabbed him by the collar of his spare shirt and went up in his face, nearly nose to nose. He was slightly shorter than her, she noticed. "What's your name, punk?"

He glared up at her through half-lidded eyes. "Hatake Kakashi da."

She blinked. Her grip on him loosened ever-so-slightly and her eyes lowered to the side, as if deep in thought. "Eeehhh!" she exclaimed, letting go of him completely. She slammed a fist onto her open hand in recognition. "You're the one—" she stopped as he wavered from suddenly being let go. Re-securing her grip on him, she continued easily, "—who foolishly got poisoned, right? I was making—" she paused again.

His eyebrows curled upwards. "You still never told me your..." Wait, foolishly _what_?

She blinked yet again. Her face fell expressionless and she turned her body slowly, like a rusty machine, behind her, and stared at the floor. Her precious cup of medicine was empty, its orange contents splattered across the floor in front of her. Her face turned sad, angry, and heartbroken. She let go of him again, and pointed indignantly at her hard work, now ruined. "Drink it!" she demanded impossibly, tears streaming down her face comically.

"...No." His eyes widened at tipping forward again. "Let go of me! Or hold me! Don't do both! Make up your mind, dammit!" His last words were muffled as his face fell on her shoulder, caught once again.

This girl. Is so weird. What the hell. Is she doing.

His face turned on his cheek. "Can you take me back to my room already?" he mumbled in defeat. If Obito saw him like this, he'd laugh.

So hard.

The image of Obito's obnoxious laughing face, pointed finger outthrust at him, filled his head. He groaned. _He'd better be asleep when I get back. I will not let him see me being half-carried by this idiot_, he thought, looking up at her. He studied the faint pink markings on the cheek visible to him at the moment. "So...that...was for _me?_"

"Aa," she replied with dissatisfaction. "Now I have to go back and get another one...let's get to your room, first." She started to trudge down the hallway with him, leaving her textbook and spilled work alone for the time being.

"There was more?" he asked. He scowled. "Then why'd you throw such a fit like that?"

"Ahou!" she retorted. "You think we only make one batch of antidote per day?"

"...But you acted like it was the last one in the vill—"

"Of course we do," she said, ignoring him. She raised an eyebrow and looked down to her left at him with her deep, ocean-blue eyes. "Except me. Do you know how much research I've done?! I think this hospital should keep several antidotes in reserve in case something stupid like _this_," she said, giving him a look, "happens. Even if it's for a rarer poison like this..._Especially _for one like this," she corrected herself.

Kakashi turned his head away, intimidated by her passion for a subject he knew so little about. Once they were well into the hall, he noticed something. "Um..."

"Hm?" she responded, raising her eyebrows.

"We're going the wrong way..."

She stopped. She craned her neck to face the door they were just passing on their right-hand side. Sure enough, the number was odd.

_203._

She smacked her hand to her forehead. "Aah, shimatta!" Unfortunately, in doing so, she accidentally brought the thick comforter to both their faces, and sent them back a few steps.

"Ah! What did you think you had, a third hand?" Kakashi asked dryly, shoving away the now statically charged locks of hair away from his face. Hesitantly, he brought his hand up, and did the same for her.

Too concentrated on bringing themselves around to notice or show her thanks, she slowly steered them back towards where they had come. It seemed that she was supposed to make a _right _at the "T" to begin with. Then... "No wonder," she said, shaking her head, "You were coming from this way," she mused, glancing back at the supply closet they'd re-passed on their way—a supply closet notorious for constantly being left unlocked.

After having passed the "T", they invaded the opposite—correct—hallway, and to Kakashi's relief, were finally seeing doors with even numbers. Even with the kunoichi's support, his legs were burning with the inadequate rest he'd given them. Finally, just two meters away from the door on the right, they were brought to an abrupt stop.

A tired-looking girl about their age stepped out of the room, and froze. Her face lit up. "Tsubaki-san!"

"Rin." _Tsubaki?_

"Rin?" the girl echoed vaguely, taking in the purple, rectangular markings on her cheeks. "Ah! Nohara-san?"

Rin stepped back, momentarily flustered at the sight. Here, she'd finally found the medic-nin she was looking for, and she was, for some reason, helping Kakashi back to the room. "What happened?" She noticed a large blanket rolled up in the medic-nin's right arm, and brought her eyes back up to the pair. "...?"

"Here," her fellow worker offered, handing Kakashi over to her. "I found him further down the hall near the supply closet." She held up the comforter. "Getting this."

"I didn't know you were cold," Rin said apologetically as the three made their way inside. She watched her coworker walk further to the left of the room and gently leave the bundle at the tip of Obito's bed. She glanced at Obito, who, to her relief, appeared fast asleep. "Tsubaki-san, I—"

"I'll be right back," she said, leaving the room quickly.

Still quite confused, Rin eyed her teammate as he walked over to Obito's bed. He slowly unfolded the blanket and spread it out over Obito, gently folding back the end near his peaceful-looking face. At the touch of feeling the blanket brush against his cheeks, Kakashi watched as the tips of Obito's mouth twitched upward. Kakashi noticed this, and smiled a little, too.

From outside the hallway, Akane stood quietly, holding a new cup of orange liquid in one hand. She concealed herself behind the wall, and peeked her head in to observe the team's interactions. She held back a shaky breath. Their team...they seem so close. She noticed Rin clasping her hands in front of her, staring at Kakashi. As soon as she saw Kakashi begin to turn around to make his way to his own bed, she whipped back out of sight.

"Here," she heard the medic-nin named Rin, say.

"Arigatou," came the reply. She heard the sound of a bed creak.

After a few seconds, Akane breezed into the room, cup in hand. Rin, standing in front of her and to Kakashi's left, looked at her in surprise. Kakashi looked at her, as well, and then eyed the contents of the container as it came closer into view.

"Douzo," she said, handing him the cup. He stared at it, completely exhausted from his trek out into the hallway. He accepted it shakily, and made a face at it before drinking it down. Rin smiled.

He sighed. "Arigatou," he said, before letting his head hit the pillow.

"What's with that sigh?" Akane demanded lightly, suddenly unsure whether or not Kakashi knew she was just teasing.

"I'm tired, that's all!" he responded, gazing at her in irritation through his dark, heavy-lidded eyes. "If you didn't get lost..." he trailed off, sleepiness taking over. His eyes fluttered shut.

"Maa," Akane said, rubbing her hand behind her short, orange-brown hair.

"Let's let them both rest," Rin said, closing her eyes in a smile.

Akane did the same. They both walked out of the room, and headed left for a bit, approaching the intersection. "Ah. Nohara-san, were you looking for me?"

"Ah!" Her eyes widened. "Genma!"

"Shiranui...?" she questioned. "What about him?"

"He was brought in this morning! I need your help with his burns," she said quickly, latching her hand onto the kunoichi's arm, and pulling her in the opposite direction back towards Kakashi's room. They passed it and and proceeded toward the stairs at the end of the hall. "He's on the third floor."

"Naturally," she replied, raising her eyebrows at her coworker's haste. "...How long have you been looking for me?"

She turned her head behind her, a worried look consuming her face. "Half an hour!"

Akane squinted her eyes in comprehension. "Ouch. You're right, let's hurry!" She took her arm back from her and they both rushed up the stairs. Once they found the right room, they skidded to a halt. They looked inside the room, shocked.

"Rin-chan!" Shiho turned her neck to her left causing her curly, honey-colored pigtails to bounce with the movement. "Akane-san!" The shroud of chakra around her hands seized.

"Where have you been?" Kosuke asked in irritation, craning his head to his right. He poked Shiho's arm, reminding her to get back to work.

Genma had his eyes closed, and lips pursed together, his face rather untelling. He cracked an eye open at the medic-ninja, still standing just outside the door. "Out, you two. This hurts. Like a bitch." His breath seized. "Out. Unless—you're going...to give me back my senbon—"

"Nope!" Shiho chirped brightly.

"Eheh..." Akane laughed nervously, placing a hand on Rin's left shoulder. "We should probably go now," she whispered.

"Yes," she whispered back, meeting her eyes.

And with that they left.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? Got any comments for the characters? I split the chapter into three sections. Hopefully like that, it's easier to comment on each section anyway.

If there's anything I should improve on, please feel free to let me know! Tell me what you like, don't like, etc. Leave your thoughts down below~! All feedback is super, super appreciated. :)

More info on the characters involved:

Tsubaki Akane is a character from my very first story in 2008- she appears as an adult in chapter 2, I believe...although aside what you can read on her in there, I never was able to 'officially' expand on her, since the story is now on permanent hiatus due to serious changes in canon, and the fact that I lost the rest of the story as well.  
Also, I listed my DeviantART on my FF profile page, so you can see a few illustrations of her in order to gain a better picture. After all, she is an OC, yes? My current profile picture is a version of her two years older.

—[Takaya Shiho and Senju Kosuke are two of the hospital staff, both with permanent positions. Shiho is roughly Kakashi's height, she has a somewhat chubby face and dark brown eyes. Kosuke has dark brown hair, a tan face, and brown eyes, and is much taller than Akane (the tallest character their age in this particular chapter). Both of these characters are 2-3 years older than Rin, Akane, Obito, and Kakashi—but Kosuke is the oldest.

—[This is just some basic, background info to make it easier to picture the characters. I suppose that could be called my failure to properly detail them within the story without sounding cliche. I also tend to write in the perspective of whoever is the character in question in each line (which may be obvious at this point), so if that character doesn't notice a particular trait, then neither does the narrator, for that matter.

There will be only single-chapter updates from here on.

Chapter title is "Wandering"


	7. Jougi 情宜 Friendly Feelings

**A/N**: I am also in the middle of making a video dedicated to Hashirama and Madara's youth. I have composed the music already but I am having severe problems with VideoPad. The project file is actually complete, but it's just a matter of getting the final render to show ALL the images I have chosen. It won't seem to show the second half of the movie, and turns black. I hope the artists don't mind the wait... ^^' I am personally very aggravated by this setback. Darn software! Argh.

Anyway, please enjoy this next chapter!

—-

* * *

The large man leaned back against the railing on the small bridge. His long, spiky brown hair stood its ground as a harsh wind blew past. He turned to his jounin friend beside him, and the edges of his own dark eyes and purple markings on his dimpled cheeks crinkled amiably as he laughed. "So that's what you wanted to talk about."

"Aa," Minato replied, although a look of apprehension lightly coated his face. "He's shown so much progress in so little time. Though I can't say I'm surprised."

"Haha, me neither, with a teacher like you, yeah?" he agreed jovially.

"He has been subtly dropping hints here and there that he's ready." He crossed his arms and looked to the trees. "Though I don't think it's time yet for Rin or Obito. Not even close."

"I agree. Kurenai, Ibiki, and Rin were great on our last mission, but none of them are ready, either. Especially not Rin. I mean," he quickly added, "that, I feel she does not want to go for that sort of thing. Helping is what she likes and she is exceptional at it."

"No, you're right. Rin has implied so in the past. Her dream is to land a permanent position at the hospital, or if that's not possible, then to remain as a medic-nin—assignable to wherever she is needed. I do admire her for wanting to serve as "a tool of Konoha", as she put it."

"Right. We are losing our medic-ninja left and right these days..."

Minato hummed in agreement. After a moment, repeated his question. "So...Chouza. What do you think?"

He looked up behind Minato.

"Ooohhhhw," a voice said in interest. "So you're gonna do _that_, huh?"

"Jiraiya-sama," Chouza greeted. He received a nod of acknowledgment.

Minato, startled, craned his neck and looked up into the wizened eyes of his former teacher. "Jiraiya-sensei, how is it that you can always sneak up on me?"

"It's because I'm your sensei, gaki!" He grinned mischievously and plopped a hand onto his former pupil's head. He circled around from behind him and faced him, taking easily into his right hand the papers from the grasp of the Yellow Flash. His eyes skimmed over the contents. He hummed-groaned in the manner typical of him. "They change the requirements and waivers each year, it seems," he noted with a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.

"Sou," Minato agreed. "That's why I'm just a bit worried."

The sage's dark, narrowed orbs met Minato's wide blue ones. He scoffed. "There's nothing to worry about. A jounin's a jounin. If he's good enough, then he'll be fine." He eyed him carefully, and then shut his eyes in defeat. "Maa...a jounin-sensei is a jounin-sensei, as well, I suppose." He remembered how he'd felt as Minato's sensei around the same time. He smiled in nostalgia, suddenly feeling very old at just thirty-six years of age. Though, for a shinobi, surviving to that age in times of war was a feat dependent not only on skill, but on luck, as well.

Minato thought for a moment and returned his gaze to his longtime friend. He received Chouza's expression of approval and nodded. "Well, Kakashi, it's not just me who believes in you," he murmured to himself. He had asked Kushina for her answer, too, the night before.

"_Eeh? But he only just got back barely alive on his last mission. Don't you think it's too soon?"_

"_I know, Kushina, but he's been wanting this for a long time now. I know Rin will be fine with it, but—" _

"_Obito wouldn't. He still has quite a ways to go, right?"_

"_Right. Still, —"_

"_He's mature enough to handle it." She chuckled. "Barely."_

_He smiled. "Right." Just like her to be able to finish off his sentences so easily. _

"_I understand where this is coming from. They're your kids! Our kids," she laughed. Her flowing red hair fell back behind her shoulder. _

_Minato walked up to her, and smoothed the long, fiery locks beside her shoulder. He listened quietly as she continued. _

"_I know Kakashi. You do too, even better—he's a fine shinobi. _

"_...If not a little brat," she added, half-smiling, with a twisted expression of malevolence consuming her face. She noticed Minato chuckle. "Well, you've got my answer," she said, raising an eyebrow hopelessly. "Honestly, you and your team...you really do have a soft spot underneath that killer exterior you always wear around, ttebane!"_

_He raised an eyebrow as well, before pulling her in for a kiss. "Well I've gotta look tough to somebody!" he whispered. "The future Hokage can't look weak, you know." Grinning broadly, he winked and performed a thumbs up. _

_Kushina closed her eyes, and tilted her head back in laughter at the nice-guy pose Gai pulled on them so often. "Mou!" she exclaimed, pushing him away playfully. "You also secretly have a swelled head, dattebane!" She landed her finger on the tip of his nose. "_Dork_."_

"Someone's thinking about Kushina-san again," a voice drifted in leerily.

Amazingly, the voice belonged to none other than Gai. Where did that kid keep popping up from, anyway?

"Hello! Gai-kun," Minato greeted, looking down in front of him at the young ninja with the now-infamous bowl cut of shiny black hair.

The boy was raising a pointed finger into the air. "Minato-sensei, if you love Kushina-san so much, you should ask her to marry you!" he advised seriously.

Chouza bowed his neck down and placed his forearm to his eyes. "So...cute...can't...stand it!"

"The eccentric-looking boy has a point, you know!" Jiraiya agreed, pointing his own pointed finger at Gai's own pointed one.

"You must let the Power of Youth run freely throughout your body, and let your mind become subject to its desires!

"Gyahahaha! I like you! Who taught you such things, this odd boy..." Jiraiya remarked, a look of bewilderment mixed with amusement clearly present on his face.

The boy looked him straight in the eye. "Ebisu no otou-san desu!" He answered confidently, the earnestness in his voice causing a tear to escape the hardened Akimichi jounin's eye. "Kedo, Ebisu doesn't like his dad much..." he looked down.

"Oouh!" Jiraiya exclaimed before grinning with recognition. "_Ano_ otoko ka?" He remembered this Ebisu's father very clearly now. They had been in the same class together in the Academy, after all. "Well it's not surprising, considering how embarr—" he was cut short with a glare from Chouza. "...Anyway!"

"Ok, so it's settled! Thanks for your help," Minato concluded, cutting into the conversation he had not paid attention to. He turned and waved at his sensei and longtime friend, and began his descent from the small bridge.

"Bye bye, Minato-sensei!" Gai called out, now curious to what the adults had been talking about.

Already off the bridge, Minato turned his body mid-step and gave him a rigorous thumbs-up. _Hm, he's right. I probably should say something to Kushina.  
_

—-

* * *

**A/N**: End of chapter! Hope you enjoyed. Me, I am really enjoying writing this. I am actually in ahead in this story, although I am writing 3-4 others at the moment...oneshots, stories set in the past, and stories set in the future. One of them will be especially long for what I usually do, and will include the same amount of characters, in general, as this one. Based around 2-4 characters kind of thing, and then making sure side characters pop in enough so it's not too exclusive on only certain ones, along with interesting and relevant enough side plots. Again, I am keeping them as close to canon as possible, as I always do. That way it seems like there's a definite possibility such events could have take place to begin with.  
Anyway, end of rant about future stuff.

Review, please! Throw some critique, praise, thoughts, suggestions at me! They are very, very, welcome. :)

Chapter title is "Friendly Feelings"


	8. Kagi 鍵 Key

**A/N**: Recent chapter update for The Burden of Knowledge! The focus shifts to the two Senju brothers.

Also, I finished the video, finally! It's on YouTube, and it features an original track dedicated to Hashirama and Madara's youth. Great artwork is featured as well. The title is "_Hashirama and Madara's Theme_".

I put the link up on my FF profile page. You can also listen to and download the music on my SoundCloud. The username for both sites is MusicForFiction.  
I worked really hard, and as you know, the software I was using was being a piece of shit, but the final render is complete and up for your entertainment...so go check it out! :D

That being said, please enjoy this next chapter.

* * *

—-

The two medic-nin strolled through the hallway of the second floor, after having left Genma's room.

It was Rin who decided to speak first. "So, Tsubaki-san, did you make that medicine?"

"Please, just call me Akane! Or Something! Tsubaki-san...that is too formal for me," she replied, eyebrows high in the air.

"O-ok," Rin said. But? ...Huh? The hardened medic-nin she'd caught glimpses of...was _her_?

"But, yep! I made it. But that idiot, he made me drop it!" Akane made a fist in the air.

Rin's eyes widened. "He...did?"

"Aa!"

"...How?"

"..."

"...?"

"...Ano...he...startled me?" She said, raising her pitch at the end. She received a look of incomprehension.

"You...got startled?"

"...Yes..."

"In a hospital?"

"...Yes..." It was her turn for eyes to widen. "N-nani? What's so funny?"

Rin's light laughter died away. "You don't look like the type of person to get startled, really..."

A look...perhaps a smirk...appeared on Akane's face. "You think?" She laughed. "Hahaha! I don't, do I?" she agreed heartily.

Hm. She really is odd. "Oh! I had one more patient to look at!" Rin mentioned, stopping in her tracks.

Akane looked back. "Oh. Let me come help," she said instinctively.

"No, it's ok. It should be quick, I think."

"Sure?"

"Yes, don't worry."

"Alright then. See you." She watched Rin walk away and disappear at the corner. _She's very nice. I'm glad I met her._ Oh. Akane frowned._ I forgot to pick up that mess I left in the hallway._ Within a minute, she was back down the stairs and in the hallway where she'd first met that Hatake kid. To her surprise, there was a boy already there with a paper towel in hand.

"Ano..." She approached the dark-haired boy carefully. Upon closer inspection, she recognized him right away.

He turned his head.

"Wait!" she said, and bent down to where he was kneeling. "Let me clean it up!"

"Huh? Who are you?"

"Eheh, I work here."

"...You don't look like it."

Cue the throbbing vein on her forehead. "N-nani...?"

"You look really nice!"

Akane's eyes widened. "...Eh?"

"Most of the people I meet here are not very friendly to me!" He laughed nervously. "Well, that is, they are probably tired of seeing my face!"

"But I've never seen you before," she noted.

"Then you must be new here."

"Do you really come here that often?"

He placed the paper towel on the ground, letting the orange-colored medicine soak through it. "Ah...for more than one reason."

"So it's more than you just getting hurt all the time?" She eyed the paper towel, and freed it from his grasp. 'I got it' was the message she sent him.

He took the message with ease and let her finish cleaning up the liquid. "Mochiron!" He raised an eyebrow at the girl. His age...? "My grandmother stays here, you know!"

"Oh...I see."

"Maybe you have met her before?"

"Saa..." She wondered. "I don't deal with long-term patients, so I'm not sure." She looked at him. "What her name?"

"Uchiha Minami."

"I see...the name is not familiar." She looked at him questioningly. He returned her look. "And you...?"

After a second of hesitation, he looked at her with a sense of calm brightness and jerked a thumb towards himself. "Uchiha Obito!"

She smiled, and put her hand out toward him, and then quickly took it back, replacing it with her non-wet hand. Oops. "Tsubaki Akane," she introduced.

He smiled back at her, and let his eyes drop to the floor, smile fading. He walked over a few steps and bent down to retrieve her textbook. "One day I'm going to be Hokage..." His voice lowered, almost as if he was talking to himself.

"Ooouuwh?" She whistled. "Then please, let me take good care of you! You seem like a nice guy, so I want to make sure you'll become Hokage for sure."

He nearly dropped the book. "What?"

"Right? Maybe I'll even help you train!" She flexed her arm and put her hand on her bicep. "I'm a pretty good ninja, you know!"

This time, he did drop the book.

"Oi! That's an expensive book!"

"Ah! Sumimasen!" He raised his eyebrows. "...Wait, then why was it on the floor like this?" he demanded.

"Well, you got me there. Ahahaha!" She put a hand behind her head, laughing.

"So, what do you mean? You'll really help train me?" He looked her up and down, examining her as she stood up to throw the paper towel into the trash bin a few meters back. They were nearly the same age. "Are you really that good of a ninja?"

"Eh?" She said sneakily. "Doubting my skills, are you?"

_Probably shouldn't have said that. Baka, baka, baka! _"N-no! Actually, I have no idea why I just said that." He received a look that made him feel like her younger brother. "It's just...I think I've been hanging around a certain guy for too long." _Dammit, Kakashi. Now I'm starting to think like you. _

"Maa, it's okay!"

"You know, I think I've seen you a couple of times before," he said slowly, searching his memory. She had looked so familiar to start with. "Maybe in the market?"

She shrugged. "Possibly."

"Well, I think I didn't..." he caught himself. He didn't want to sound too weird to this pretty girl already.

"Hm? What?" She picked up her textbook off the floor from in front of Obito, and began to stroll past him, silently signalling with her body that they should not sit in the middle of the hallway.

He took a few steps and caught up with her. "I think I didn't recognize you at first because...your expression is so different. You looked kind of..." Like..._that_ guy... "Like you didn't want to talk to anybody."

She raised her eyebrows. "Then, is it okay now? I mean..." She pointed to her face, smiling with her mouth, but not her eyes. "Like this? Is this face okay?"

Obito laughed. She could really act like a dork, though. "Yep. Perfect!" He grinned goofily.

"Then..." She held her chin and looked up at the ceiling as they walked. "Why would you think that?"

"Well," he started, looking up at a corner, "you don't seem very approachable..."

Akane looked genuinely startled. Casting her gaze downward, she apologized. "Sumimasen."

Surprised at this reaction, Obito chuckled. "Demo, that is a good thing! People think I am too approachable...but sometimes I really don't feel like talking to them!"

"Ja," the kunoichi said, smiling big, "That is okay, too!"

"You think so?..."

"Mochiron! Everyone deserves their own space. You don't need to worry about what other people think about you, you know."

This was news to him. Since when? "I don't...do that..." He was met with a raised eyebrow. He reached over and set her dark eyebrow back in place. "Oi, what's with that look?"

"Well, you don't seem like the happy-go-lucky type..."

Obito's mind stopped working.

All that effort...put to waste? How could...this girl...? He wanted to drop the act right away, and see what sort of expression she'd wear upon figuring him out. Would she feel proud? Like she'd accomplished something? Has she done this before, does she enjoy picking other people apart?

He lifted his dark eyes slowly and tried to meet hers...but to his surprise, she was not even looking at him.

She wore a sort of distant, wistful expression. She was sending out another "don't talk to me" vibe, but she seemed so..._sad_. Instinctively, he reached out a hand and rested it upon her shoulder.

Did she know it?

Did she know that that's what she must've looked like, everytime someone noticed her in the distance? "Stay away from me" must have been what everyone saw when they noticed her.

But to Obito...

He slowly pulled her into a hug, ignoring the pain he felt near his neck when he buried his head beside hers. "Oi, nee-chan..."

She looked...

Akane tensed at the contact, and widened her eyes.

Like she only wanted a hug...

He held onto her for a long moment. He did not know the cause of her sorrow, but, in that moment, he no longer felt like an only child. "Thank you, for noticing..."

—-

* * *

**A/N**: And thank you for reading~! I really do like coloring in characters like this. Also, I feel like Obito needs more than one foil, and so that is just one of the reasons for this chapter's existence.

Anyway, hope you liked! Please leave a review of your thoughts, suggestions, critique, etc. :)

Chapter title is "Key"


	9. Minato no Suijme ミナト の 筋道 Minato's Logic

—-

In the dimly lit room, Minato cleared his throat. "So, Kushina..."

She looked up and glanced at him through the mirror. "Hm?" She scowled, and let the hand holding the huge brush fall to her side. "Argh, this hair..."

"Well, I was thinking...and..."

"That's it! I'm chopping off this piece of crap, ttebane!" _Is he still worried about his students?_

"IIIEEE! Noo!" Minato moved forward and grasped her hair, hugging it from behind her. "So much, so much...beautiful...red...hair..."

"Minato..." Her face turned sardonic. "You know, one day I _will_ cut this hair..."

"WHAT!?"

She raised her eyebrows nonchalantly. "It will happen."

"B-but don't do that sort of thi—"

"Too bad!" She put on an evil smile.

"...Sob," he cried.

"Anyway, what was it you were saying?"

He shut his eyes and let his forehead rest against her back. "Gah." His rough, shaggy bangs tickled the back of her neck. _If_ _I can't convince her to keep her hair, how can I convince her to marry me? _He held onto her arms loosely from behind.

If Kushina had heard this sort of man-logic, she would have flipped.

"'Gah'? Heh?" She set down the brush onto the dresser, not moving from her spot. No, if she did, that would disturb Minato from the position he found himself so comfortable in at that moment. She would dare not move.

"It's nothing."

She smiled lopsidedly, gazing past her reflection in the mirror. "Minato."

"...Yes?"

"I love you."

His gentle smile was hidden from the eyes in the mirror. "...I love you too."

—-

* * *

**A/N**: New chapter up for _Across the River_, a series of fics centered around Madara, Hashirama, Tobi-chan and a spirited Mito, at different stages of life (and death). Warning: Fluff, angst, tragedy, overwhelming cuteness, humor, friendship... and pretty much everything usually associated with the greatness that is HashiMada.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It doesn't seem to fit in with the next one, and this adorable MinaKushi bit is good enough to stand alone, I believe. :3

Working on future chapters as of now.


	10. Otozurete iru 訪れて いる Visiting

—-

_Well, that failed. I should try again later... _The blond-haired shinobi entered the hospital for the first time in weeks. Suddenly realizing he had no idea where his students were staying, he arrived at the front desk. He was met with a bored expression from an intern on desk duty.

"Hi, may I—"

"How may I help you...?"

"...I'd like to know the room numbers of my two students, Obito and—"

"Ah, yes..." he said lazily. "Uchiha and Hatake, ne?"

"Hai."

"They are ninja, right?"

"Hai..." Was he forgetting something?

He swirled a finger around the rim of his teacup, and tapped the desk with his other hand. "What's your passcode?" _So...handsome..._

Minato blinked. "Huh?"

The intern struggled to keep his bored expression. "All visitors who wish to see shinobi must present their unique passcode." After receiving no particular look of acknowledgment, he asked, "Were these patients unconscious upon admission?"

_Hm...according to Obito... _Minato made a face. Obito hadn't been clear about whether Kakashi was awake or not when he'd brought him here. Then, thinking about their constant bickering, their sensei took a guess. "No."

"You should have been given a code then."

He sighed. "I haven't." _Guess things have changed over the weeks. Well, once the war is over, and if I ever become Hokage, I'll attempt to do away with this inefficiency_, he grumbled in his thoughts. "I'm their captain." He placed a hand firmly on the countertop.

The desk receptionist exaggerated a sigh. "Name?" He brought the cup to his mouth and took a sip of his tea.

"Namikaze Minato."

Startled, the intern choked on his tea in his response. "N-Nami—" _The Yellow Flash. _He immediately flipped through the sheets on the notepad to his right. "Uh...Hatake..." He flipped through several more yellow sheets. "Uchiha..." He looked up, hesitant to meet the jounin's eyes. "They're both in room 206. S-second floor, closest if you take the right-wing stairs." He pointed away to his left. "The room will be on the left..."

"Arigatou." Minato left and headed down the hall. _Hm...both in the same room, eh? _

_I wonder how that's going. _

The intern's gray eyes sparkled. _The Yellow Flash..._ He made a fist in the air. _So! Cool!_

—-

* * *

There was a knock at the door.

Still drowsy from the meds the strange kunoichi named... Subaka? "Haha." _Baka. _He giggled again. Suddenly, he sat up straight, facing the door with a certain fierce intensity. He slammed an open hand on the bedsheet beside his thigh.

_WHAT IS THIS?!_

Minato entered the room to see a disoriented Kakashi. Raising a fair eyebrow, he slowly moved closer to his student's bed. A quick glance at the adjacent bed to the left told him Obito was busy somewhere else. "...Kakashi...?"

_Why did I laugh...? _A look of pure incomprehension seamlessly combined with horror crossed the boy's face. _Am I going...mad?_

Minato leaned a hand on the bed's edge. _Perhaps this is not the best time to bring this up,_ he mused. "Where's Obito?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.

Kakashi brought a hand up to his face in disbelief and looked away. "I don't know..." he said distantly, staring to the right at the bed of the boy in question. He then brought his eyes up and looked straight at his sensei's face. "What?"

Minato's other eyebrow rose, as well. "Go back to sleep, Kakashi." He began to turn around.

"M-matte!"

He stopped.

"What is it...you came here for?"

Minato peered at him. It seemed his was beginning to regain his senses.

Kakashi eyed the papers in the man's left hand. He was no longer nine years old; his sensei would not do something like make a special trip to the hospital just to see him. There was a reason he had not come so far to visit him these past few days. "What are those?" he asked.

"Ah, these...?" he said easily, in a tone that even the deaf could tell came from a father.

Kakashi's heavy-lidded eyes widened. "Don't tell me..."

_Ah, so he did..._

"Those are Obito's discharge papers?!"

"..."

..._NOT know...?_

He mentally slapped the papers to his head, but kept his composure like the shinobi he was, and made his way next to his former student. "...No, Kakashi..." He held them up in front of his face. "This," he said, "is the application for the upcoming jounin exams—_eehh_?!" Minato found himself being squeezed from his right side.

"Minato-sensei~" he said gushed happily. "Arigatou, arigatou, arigatou _gozaimasu_~!"

Gai popped his head in. "AH! The Power of Student-Teacher Love!"

...

Minato turned to the door. "You. Out."

"Bye-bye!"

He sighed.

...

"Kakashi!" He returned for the last time, appearing halfway into sight. "I see you have been recommended for this divine opportunity!" He placed a firm hand on the hip belonging to the visible portion of his body. "...I expect nothing less from my rival. Accept this challenge! And when I become jounin...we will have—"

"Shoubu, deshou?!" Kakashi exclaimed in supreme delight as he released his sensei, leaving only a hand loosing hanging onto the man's sleeve.

"N-nan desu ka, kore wa?" Gai questioned suspiciously, turning his once eager face to Minato. Kakashi was actually looking forward to a match with him, with such excitement!

Minato smiled awkwardly at the eccentric ninja. "Medicine," he whispered. _Who gave him such a drug? _Well, whatever it was, Kakashi's movements were a lot swifter as opposed to before, he noticed. That, and a couple days of rest—plus the assured bickering—were probably doing good for him.

"O-kay!" The lively young boy stuck his arm out in a stiff wave, and was gone from sight.

Minato sighed again. He turned his head and looked back down at the mess of silver hair next to him. The hand that held onto him had fallen back onto the bed. "...Kakashi?"

He looked up earnestly with dilated pupils. "...?"

"Go back to sleep."

"Hai, sensei." Recognizing the familiar drowsy feeling swallowing him, he quickly scooted underneath the covers, rolled onto his side, and was out like a light.

_Looks like the kid in him is still there_, Minato thought warmly. _But if he succeeds...not only will he be capable of leading his own team, he will be most certainly forced to..._

_The number of jounin is gradually declining and he will be used very thoroughly until he can no longer take it. _Minato knew this quite well. A frown of concern settled on his soft features. ._..That is, dead. _

_It is not likely he will pass on his first try, but...if he succeeds..._

_I will no longer have any care over him. He's almost thirteen, now...but I hope I can convince mission control to let me keep Kakashi on my team, and let him assume a position of co-captain beside me...just until he's gained more experience leading..._

—_-_

* * *

**A/N**: Hope you liked! Please review below, let me know what you think! Thoughts are quite welcome. :)_  
_

New chapter update for _Across the River._

Translations:

Kakashi: "A match, yes?!"

Gai: "What is...this? O.o"


	11. Taiin 退院 Discharge

—_-_

_Hm, I can't wait to get out of here. _Obito cupped his chin and stared at the wall to his right._ I feel just as restless as _that_ guy, over there. _

"Time for your release!" a voice said cheerily.

Startled, Obito whipped his head to the left, and across the room at the door entrance was Rin. He met her deep brown eyes longingly. "It's been four days already!" he remarked with relief.

Rin smiled that serene smile of hers. "Well, it wasn't just that wound near your collar; you were also suffering from mild chakra exhaustion." She held her elbow. "I was told to make sure you are back to one hundred percent, before you are deployed again."

Kakashi began to stir, unbeknownst to his teammates. His ears perked up at hearing Rin's voice in the room again. Half-awake, he debated whether or not to return to sleep.

"Guess that makes sense," the older boy replied, glancing askew at his other comrade lying on the bed to his left. "Anyway, I was getting tired of being stuck here with this guy." He leaped off the bed, filled with boundless energy, and stood at the foot of Kakashi's bed. He leaned against the piece of furniture with one hand, facing Rin. He grinned. "Finally, I can go—!"

"Good riddance."

"EH!?" Obito jumped. "When did you—?"

"It's hard to sleep with someone as noisy as you next to me." Kakashi stared straight ahead with half-lidded eyes. "You snore!"

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do."

Obito glanced at Rin, and back at Kakashi. "Urusai! Teme wa." He turned around and started to leave.

"Hai, Uchiha Obito-sama," he deadpanned.

Obito turned on his heel and pointed at the bedridden boy. "Don't call me that!"

"Hai, Obito-chan~" he drawled.

"..."

Rin's eyes darted between the two ninja in amusement. They were fighting again. A soft, happy smile appeared on her face.

"It's Obito-senpai! To you!"

"We're both chuunin, baka."

"But I'm older!"

"Barely..." he muttered quietly. "It won't matter soon, anyway..."

Obito squinted his eyes. "Nani? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he snapped. "It's none of your business."

He scowled at him for a minute. "Hm," he huffed before leaving the room. He'd had enough of Kakashi. Four days was more than enough. Luckily he'd met that cool nee-chan to keep him company earlier.

Once Obito was out of sight, Rin looked back at Kakashi. "What was that about?"

He sighed before moving the long hair away from his face. "The usual," he said drearily.

"No...I mean what you said. Why won't it matter...?" Rin questioned curiously.

"Aah..." Although he was much more clear-headed now, Kakashi fumbled for the right words. "I'll be taking the jounin exam," he said flatly.

"You are?" She immediately thought of Obito. "That's great, Kakashi!" She paused for a moment. "But...how? I thought they held off examinations ever since this war...started."

"No, those were only for the chuunin exams, and they lifted that hold a while ago. That's how you and Obito were able to pass, remember?" He sat up. The side of his torso was only eighty percent healed—the Sand ninja were not excluded from making good use of their specialty poisons. He'd learned from that...what was her name...Supagi, yes? He recalled her face fuzzily. She'd told him that a big reason why the antidote he'd taken earlier hadn't done much was because both the wounds on his cheek and his waist were were damaged by two different types of poison. "I should start poisoning my own weapons," he grumbled.

"Still not feeling better?" Rin asked gently.

"No, I'm fine," he replied easily. The wound should heal in no time, and the annoyingly effective traces of poison were also effectively being eliminated from his system, thanks to the copious amounts of bedrest and medicine he'd had to take.

A determined frown set upon his face. He would train tonight.

—_-_

* * *

"Huh? What's this?" The kunoichi held a packet of roughly seven to eight papers stapled together, and waved it in front of the much larger man. "I don't like paperwork," she pouted, crossing her arms with the packet still in hand, not even waiting for a reply.

"You idiot. You want to be a chuunin all your life?" came the dry reply.

She looked up into his bright green eyes, slightly crinkled with age.

"Didn't you read the title?"

She made a face. "...No." Then she brought the stack close to her face and read the words:

_**Official Application for the Annual Jounin Exam**_

"...Sounds pretty official."

"That's because it is."

"'To be filled out by the applicant and signed by a shinobi who has held the rank of 'Jounin' for at least two years', it says." She met his eyes again, wryly. "Have you been a jounin for at least 2 years?"

The man closed his eyes, and then cocked an eyebrow. "Hmm..." He then cracked an eye open and stared down at the young, spiky-haired ninja. "For longer than you've been alive, yes; that I am sure of, Akane."

Her childlike behavior was a stark contrast to the more mature behavior she'd displayed in front of her peers. She giggled. "You make yourself sound so old, Ubishi-sensei!" Her darkish eyebrows rose.

"Well, that's 'cause I am!" he said matter-of-factly, raising two equally thick, but long, white eyebrows.

Leaning on one leg, she placed a hand on her hip and returned her eyes to the front paper, skimming over the information required for her to fill out. "Hmph. You will be one who slips into old age quite gracefully," she remarked distantly.

His eyebrows slid forward. "You word things so very...oddly."

"And you talk like an old man, too."

His wizened eyes studied her determined expression as she flipped through the papers. "You don't understand a word of what you're reading, do you?" he commented quietly, amused. _I'm happy to see she's doing much better now... we've seen each other less and less ever...since..._ He let the thought drift away, not wanting to think about the year earlier and the smiling young faces he'd become so accustomed to seeing.

"No...I understand most of it..."

"Ok, good." With his left hand, the thirty-something year-old whisked the papers out of her grasp, and turned to the last page. He focused a minute amount of chakra on his other two fingers and pressed it lightly against the bottom of the sheet. The was a soft, sizzling sound, and seconds later his distinguished seal was burned onto the surface.

"What are you—?" she started, a baffled expression taking root upon her face. "I didn't even fill it out, yet."

"You already have my approval, yes? So I trust you will fill out the information correctly." He stroked his fingers through his tied up, dark silver hair. "Though I doubt it's necessary; jounin are in high demand right now..." he muttered. He threw the application unceremoniously back at her, and turned away, leaving her alone.

"I guess I'll see you later, sensei," she concluded, letting her arms fall to her side. "And thank you," she added.

He waved an arm beside him, not bothering to turn his head. "Ja, na."

—_-_

* * *

**A/N**: Well, depending on what you're thinking, some of you might be making predictions at this point...and I can tell you right now_—_it's not going to happen! If you're thinking something slightly different, that most likely isn't going to happen, either. I don't plan on making this fic one hundred percent predictable, but I hope you're enjoying it nonetheless. :)

Thoughts?

New update (I know it's late -.-) for _Across the River_: A certain long-haired Uchiha and a certain long-haired Uzumaki are nothing less than Great Rivals in the quest for that one thing. Just what are these two up to, now?


	12. Taisetsu 大切 Important

**A/N**: I have a thing for parallels...that is all.

...

No wait, that's not all. As I'm about to post this, editing for any last minute errors (which I always end up finding) ... I realize have two extremely difficult exams today and I forgot all about traffic :D I will rise from the dead later tonight, hopefully. Goodbye, and happy reading!

* * *

—_-_

Ok... Kakashi threw on his usual outfit, and firmly tied his hiate-ate around his forehead. He looked in the mirror, and noticed pieces of silver hair settling between his eyes from underneath the cloth. _I need a haircut_, he thought. He pulled up his mask and reached for his Hakko Chakra To, examining the the newly repaired hilt and freshly sharpened edges carefully. His fingers traced the textured lines down the hard piece of metal. And...his hair was immediately forgotten. Stuff like that didn't seem all too important, anyway.

The tanto blade settled against his back, safe and secure.

Now he was ready.

* * *

—_-_

She sighed, and tucked her dark brown hair behind her ear. What a tough morning. Several platoons had just returned early this morning, all badly injured. Almost all of the hospital staff was called in for work immediately. She checked the time. 1:30 p.m. She'd had to stay a bit longer due to her specialty in healing severe lacerations, but she didn't mind. Her temporary job was going nicely, and she'd met some very nice patients. She even got to see Hayate-kun again, after Ibiki had re-introduced them. She had wanted to stay longer, but was pretty much forced to leave by the younger recruits who wanted to prove their commitment to the job.

Smiling, she picked up the pen that hung by the wall and signed herself out.

* * *

—_-_

"Gah!" His lightning-based attack was abruptly cut short.

Minato stood up straight. "Are you sure you should be training right now?" He was answered with a kick to his stomach. He easily blocked, and sent him back.

The chuunin got off from the ground, kicking up dirt in the process. "Of course!"

Minato smirked and pulled out a kunai. "Good, then." He appeared behind his student, who sensed him a second too late.

…Or not. Kakashi was quickly replaced with a similarly-sized piece of wood.

"Hah," Kakashi sighed. "How do you still have so much chakra left?"

"I have plenty of chakra left," he lied. _Well, if he's truly ready, I should have less than fifty percent left. _Half an hour was more than enough to tire both the highly-skilled ninja out. He estimated his chakra level based on his latest movements and exhaustion. _Ehh, forty-five percent, roughly. _It was nowhere near the dangerous twenty percent line, but hopefully Kakashi would handle his opponents better in the coming days and let them fall in that range.

_Aah...probably at thirty percent or so by now. _Kakashi cringed. _This is awful, I should not be at such a level by now. And the exam is in three days! _The cringe became quite visible now. _Plus...Rin said that _girl_ would be there, too. Ah...what was her name, again?_

After reading the half-exposed face of his student, he suggested, "How about we take a break, now?" With one hand he put away his unmarked kunai into his pack.

"Already?" Kakashi frowned, standing up straight.

Minato gave him a look, and the sharpness in his eyes was more than enough to sway the kid.

"Okay."

So they both decided to rest.

—_-_

* * *

On her way back home, Rin noticed a familiar person in front of her. The person was walking closely beside someone else she immediately recognized as Kosuke-kun—the tall build, tan skin, and short, dark brown hair gave him right away. Of course, the Senju crest on the side of his white-collared shirt helped, too. She decided to catch up to them, but by the time she did, Kosuke began to part, and made a right, waving toward the girl she now recognized as none other than Tsubaki Akane.

As Kosuke was turning back to wave, he caught sight of Rin and waved at her, too. "Later, Nohara!"

She waved back and smiled.

Upon hearing the goodbye from the Senju, Akane turned around in surprise. "Rin!"

"Hi," she greeted brightly. "Are you on your way home?" She must have been called in for just the morning shift, too.

"Yep," she replied. "Just had lunch with mister Senju," she said pointed back. They continued to walk.

"I thought Kosuke-kun would have walked you home..." she mused thoughtfully.

Akane raised her eyebrows. "Why would he do that? He lives over there," she said, pointing to Senju compound.

"But..." she started, a faint blush forming on her cheeks. "He's not your...?" she questioned, recalling how close they had been walking.

"My..." she echoed curiously, and then it slowly clicked. "OH!" she said a little too loudly. The owner of a small street shop scowled at her volume. She apologized with a big grin, and then returned her attention back to Rin. "No, it's not like that. He was asking for some help with this book," she said, holding up the textbook on poisons she had been reading on her break in the hospital.

"Help...? I thought he was an expert on poisons."

"Him?" She giggled. "Are you kidding me? He's great with burns and broken bones, but poison is farrr from his specialty." She winked.

"Oh." Rin must have heard from otherwise from Shiho-chan, then. _But still_, she recalled again, it appeared as if Kosuke had been the one leaning too close to her. She examined her new friend's face. Had she not noticed, or was she really just playing along with him?

"Maybe that's what he said, but I know that is definitely not the case." Akane thought back.

"Okay." Rin set her eyes on the next street as they slowly approached it. "Well, my house is this way." She brightened up. "You should come over some time soon!"

Akane smiled. "Sure!" She paused. "After the jounin exam, though. I won't be able to before that..."

"Oh..." Rin said. That would be a while then. A little over a week, perhaps. "Right, so will you be working for the next couple of days?" she asked tentatively. No, she would probably request time off to prepare. There were only three days left, after all.

"Yeah, tomorrow I'm off, but the until Saturday I'll be working."

"Okay. I have work tomorrow actually, but I have the weekend off, so...I guess I'll see you around then?" Her dark brown eyebrows rose. "Well, good luck on the exam! If I don't see you before then."

Her friend grinned warmly. "Thanks a lot!" She winked and headed off, craning her neck behind her as she waved, watching Rin disappear around the corner.

"Bye!"

* * *

—-

Minato gulped down the hard liquid from his bottle, and wiped the sweat from his upper lip. He shook the near empty container. "There is one thing," he said.

His student turned his head toward him, setting down his own drink. "One thing, what?"

"Well, a lot of things," he said. He slowly paced the grass.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, looking unimpressed as usual, but this time with a hint of annoyance. "How can you drink that stuff right after training?"

"Wrong. It's not my training. It's _yours_," he said slowly, careful not to trip over his words.

He squinted his eyes at his sensei. "No tolerance...whatsoever."

"Huh?"

He shook his head. "You—"

"As I was saying..." he continued, "you lack several things."

"Like a teacher who doesn't drink around his students," he grumbled back, looking away, while shoving a hand through his sweat-laced silver hair. "You're becoming just like Jiraiya-sensei," he added, muttering under his breath, shaking his head. He was clearly unamused at this behavior.

"What was that?" He squinted down at him from where he stood.

A hand was subsequently plopped onto his messy hair. "I said, 'What teacher decides to dehydrate himself instead of rehydrating...in such hot weather?!'"

"Hn," he replied, giving a very Fugaku-like answer. He chuckled at his imitation of his friend.

"What's so funny?" Kakashi glared up at him. His eyes were beginning to water with the heat of the sun.

"That you think you can just breeze through this exam," he replied sharply. He noticed Kakashi tense at his tone. Only he could ever do that to him, after all. "There _is_ something you need to know. And that something is very, very important. It is also very obvious, as well, but since this is you..." He sighed. "I will make sure I get this across very clearly."

The young ninja looked up at him expectantly, secretly eager to hear what his sensei had to say.

"For this exam...to be called an elite ninja...a _jounin_..." he said slowly, "you will either need great power or great endurance. Trying to average between the two will make it very, very hard on you. This test is 'the' test." He eyed Kakashi, trying to read his thoughts; it was fairly easy to do by reading his current expression. "If you can pull it off by excelling in at least one of those two areas, you can just about pass one section of the exam."

"Okay..." Kakashi started impatiently, "but why do I—"

"—Another thing is intelligence." He tried very hard not to slur his words. Hm. Perhaps he would have been more credible if he had decided not to drink at this very moment. Well, it's not like it had packed such a thing, himself...when Jiraiya-sensei came over the night before, he must have poured alcohol in his water can as his latest prank. "Nice one, Jiraiya-sensei," he muttered vindictively. Now it was Minato's turn to get him back. He removed his hand from Kakashi's head, though both of them had forgotten it had been there.

"...?" His student stared at him curiously. Had his sensei figured something else out? But if it was advice from that perverted "sage"...he wasn't sure he would rather hear it.

"Like I said, intelligence. You need to be able to think strategically. You will be tested on your quick-thinking skills, too," he added, flipping the well-built container around in the air a couple of times before tossing it across the grass. "Now...the absolute most important th-thinngg." He lightly scrunched his eyes in frustration at blurring his speech. "Your ability to take charge...and...act as a _willing member_ of a squad," he finished. "_This_ is what you must—"

Kakashi scowled. "I already know that. You keep telling us about teamwork this, teamwork that. I got it—I know how to take orders."

Minato frowned and gave the boy a hard look. "Do you?" They locked eyes for a long, heavy moment.

"...?" Kakashi broke contact, and looked off to his side. What did he mean?

"...You have no concept of how important this is, what I am saying to you." The jounin sighed and looked off to the side as well. He seemed lost in thought. "...I've been assigned a mission tomorrow. Do well on the test, Kakashi," he said, moving away from the boy.

He blinked, and his scowl was erased completely. "You won't be here?"

"No. I won't be for a couple of weeks or so."

What... "What kind of mission is _that?_"

"...ANBU needs more people right now, so I'm being called back in." His voice became harder to hear; he was much further away now.

"Right," he said in reluctant recognition. "...Okay. I'll see you later, then. Take care on the mission!" he added quickly, loud enough so his sensei could hear. It was an uncharacteristic of himself to say such a thing, he noticed, as he watched his sensei walk away. Still, it meant Minato-sensei would not be here to see him make jounin! Of course Kakashi was going to pass on the first try—he was confident. But long ANBU missions were typically extremely dangerous, especially when going solo. There was a large chance that...What if he never...? Kakashi shook his head, releasing the thoughts from his mind.

He watched as Minato gave a single nod, waving in reply.

—-

* * *

**A/N**: Thoughts, thoughts, yes...I love them indeed.

* * *

New story "_Recall" _ (totally not overdoing it with now 4 stories in the works..eheh ^^')

_S_ummary: (post-war) Naruto subjects his sensei to the waterfall of truth. What things will the two of them learn?_  
_


	13. Kizuna 絆 Bonds

**A/N**: I apologize for the wait! This has fallen in level of priority...plus I had almost nothing written for future chapters... :D ehehe. Just little chapter drabbles...that I need to extend...

Eventually... :D

* * *

—-

"Argh!" she groaned into the darkness. "You have to got to be kidding me." A firm hand landed on her shoulder from behind.

"What? That I'm stuck with you?" Kakashi shot back, whispering fiercely from where they crouched. Wet blades of grass tickled the arm on he rested upon the damp dirt. "Supagi-kun no baka." He observed the bright moonlight that fell softly onto her dirt-covered face—she'd tripped earlier; he'd busted up. And then she'd kicked him in response—who in turn tripped her on purpose the next time. "Seriously..."

She turned to face him. "_You_ baka! It's _Tsubaki_! Tsu-ba-ki! And don't forget it," she finished, lowering her tone. "Who knew the exam would consist of this..." she muttered, partially in awe.

"Yes, nobody would ever guess that the exam would consist of _real_ missions...because that's what _real_ jounin do! ...Stupid!" He was beginning to lose his patience with her. "And of course I'd be stuck with you! Loudmouth!" _I'd rather be here with Obito... _He thought for a moment.

_...Wait. No no no. Nevermind. _

This...was _much_ better.

"Urusai!" she whispered sharply.

"That's my line," he snapped.

...Maybe_._

"Shut. Up," she said through her teeth, and then glanced upwards, nodding her head in the direction to his right.

His eyes followed hers._ Oh._ He'd forgotten she had decent sensing skills, at least.

They both moved quickly out from behind the large boulder. Today wast the third day of the mission and they were _finally_ getting close...

"Well, it could be worse, you know," the kunoichi said as they hid behind a large tree. She grinned soberly at the reply she received, and at the lack of the typical response one would get from making such a statement, 'How so?'

"I know," he said, instead. "We could be in a foreign country..." he added distantly, looking around him. Depths of dark green forest greeted them on all sides. "And without you," he admitted, refusing to look at her.

The girl turned her head toward him, raising a dark eyebrow mildly. "...Yeah. Same here," she said quietly, carefully gazing into the dark eyes that now met hers just as carefully.

—-

* * *

That night, a certain Uchiha had trouble sleeping. By the time morning came, he was already feeling tired.

"Obi-chan!"

...

The boy rubbed his eyes.

"Obito..."

What? Oh. Was that mom...?

...

"OBITO!"

He awoke fully. He quickly sat up and stared at the wall for a brief moment. He shook his head to rid himself of sleep, and then sprang out of bed. "Hai, okaa-san!" He appeared before his mother within seconds, arms flat at his sides. He looked up at her obediently.

She motioned toward the door. "Go outside, will you? Mikoto wants your help again." She took in his expression. "What? Aren't you always trying to help people? Go help her." With that, she turned away and left the room.

With a sigh, he pulled on his sandals and went out the door. He spent the next few minutes slowly making his way over to Mikoto-bachan's house. As he approached, he heard someone moving about. The movements sounded coordinated, yet completely unpredictable. Curious, he headed toward the back of the home to see that it was a young boy who was making those movements. He stared in awe.

"Obito-chan!"

He turned his head away from the scene and stared at his right. A petite woman in her late twenties was standing on the back porch. "I was hoping you could supervise Itachi's training."

Dumbfounded, Obito pointed at himself. "...Me?"

"Yes! He already knows what to do, but just keep an eye on him, alright?"

He gaver her an obident nod. "Hai!"

"Thank you~!" she said, and disappeared back inside the house.

Obito turned his head back to the boy. He hadn't spent a lot of time with him much before. Four, was he? He stepped closer to him, trying not to get caught in the movements. "Itachi-kun..."

The little boy stopped. He looked at his older cousin, waiting for the rest of the sentence to come. "What is it?"

He frowned. Grumpy little boy. _With no particular expression... _He put on a friendly face. "I know some pretty cool stuff. Want me to teach you?"

The boy stared at him for a moment.

Obito stared back expectantly.

"No."

_Iiieeeh! _"N-nani?" he grit through his teeth. "Ungrateful brat!" he shouted, and turned on his heels, intent on doing something else less annoying.

"You can't go."

He stopped.

"Okaasan says you are supposed to help me."

"AHOU! That's what I was trying to—"

"Please do not shout. You will wake the dead with that voice."

Obito's face exploded in the most supreme scowl. "_Why—you—little_—" He thrust out a finger at him accusingly. "Just wait 'til you have your own little brother, then you'll understand—!" he huffed.

"Father says I will."

He blinked. "Eh...?"

"Or a sister." He was quiet for a moment. "Mother says she wants a child that will hug her," he said plainly.

Obito was silent. He looked at him very carefully.

"What are you looking at?" Itachi asked. _He also doesn't want to be near me..._

"You," he replied. "Ahou."

"Why do you always talk like that, Obito-oniisan?"

He brushed some dirt off his forearm. "Because," he said casually, moving onto the other arm, "I'm surrounded by them..._ahou-tachi_."

Itachi looked at him curiously, and stood in front of him.

"How old are you again?"

"Almost five, oniisan." He frowned. "Don't you know that—?"

"Listen Itachi. Why don't you hug your mother more often?" he suggested. He looked away, letting his arms hang at his side. "You should do that. I'm sure she'll like that."

_But..._ "Why?"

Obito forced a smile. "Na, Itachi," he continued, landing a hand on the boy's head, "you don't need to ask that sort of thing. Hugs are just hugs. Parents give them all the time!"

"I've never seen your mom hug you," he countered.

"That's besides the point," he interrupted, before casting a quick sideways glance at the back door of the house. "...Well, why don't you hug me, then?"

...

"...Okay..." Itachi inched...closer...and closer...to his older cousin...

"..."

After what seemed like five minutes later, Obito finally felt the little arms wrap around his waist. At first, he felt nothing of the hug, as it was just an attempt to get Itachi to understand his parents' feelings. But then, he felt the side of Itachi's tiny face and fluffy hair pressing against his stomach, the overall smallness of the child...and felt a surge of care for him. He looked down and patted Itachi's head. "Yes...see?" he smiled.

Itachi pulled his head back and looked up at him curiously.

"Just like this...your mom will be happy..." Obito wished right then that he had his own younger sibling to take care of. That intense feeling of love and protectiveness felt so paternal that he no longer felt like a child, himself, in the kid's presence.

"Are you sure?"

"...Yes. I am positive. _Brat_," he added with smile.

"Hey!"

—-

* * *

Akane let out a breath. Her orange-brown hair fell beside her face messily. "Well, Hatake..." The stolen scroll that the two had just retrieved was set down roughly onto the grass. She prepared to transport the document, and began to make a few seals. "At least that last part wasn't so hard. Just like..."

Several feet away, her partner was scanning the area to make sure they had not been followed. Finally satisfied, he slowly turned back to her. "Oi, Tsubaki..." His eyes widened. "Watch out!"

—-

* * *

**A/N**: And cut.

So the exam has already started, yet we know so little about it... And it appears we've missed a few things, as well. If only the next chapter could offer some more explanation...

On the other hand, cute Itachi is cute :D I am not very satisfied with the amount of detail I put into this chapter, so I might come back to thicken it a bit if I get the chance. Minor stuff, no big deal.

Leave your thoughts for this chapter in a review, perhaps? :D

* * *

Expect Ch 16 update tomorrow for _Across the River: _Hashirama has tried talking to Madara into a truce with little success. Meanwhile, what is this exciting thing he wants to show his brother?

As for tonight, _TBoK_ chapter 12 update is also being written. I'm almost done with it, but I might add in some of whatever Kishimoto has to offer us in ch 632 0_0

* * *

_ahou-tachi_ - (them/these) idiots


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